This is one more example of the ugly American.
Six US soldiers on leave in Asia sneak into a secret ritual held by a cult that worships cobras. In the ritual a woman (Faith Domergue) changes from a human into a snake. The cult. (Lamias), discovers the soldiers when one takes a picture during the religious service. Not only do they desecrate the service by they steal from the temple and a brawl ensues. The soldiers get away; however, a curse is put on them by the cult high priest vowing revenge from the cobra goddess.
Once back in the US a mysterious woman, Lisa Moya (Faith Domergue) enters their lives and strange things start to happen. Her influence on the soldiers seems hypnotic. But animals, horses, dogs, and cats have a strange aversion to her. She moves in across the hall from two of the soldiers Paul Able (Richard Long) and Tom Markel (Marshall Thompson) and one by one the other soldiers suffer horrible deaths.
Although the movie says Asia the look says India but it could just as well be Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, or Malaysia and there are cults that worship snakes in these countries but the name of the cult is called Lamia which is actually a monster from Greek mythology. Lamia was a woman who loved Zeus and was transformed into a part woman part serpent by Zeus’s jealous wife Hera.
This is actually one of the scarier Universal offerings since it could be based in fact. Not necessarily that women can turn into serpents but that a cult so strongly devoted to their beliefs could actually kill anyone who dares to desecrate their beliefs or their temple. It has an all star cast and an interesting plot. The story it is well done and the performances are strong. There's plenty of tenson to add to the mix.
There is also one freaky part where it is suggested, “50’s style”, that Marshall Thompson and Faith Domergue consummated their relationship. Since Faith’s character is half woman, half serpent I’m not sure if that’s considered Bestiality or not. Just sayin’